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Orange Park Medical Center to take back unused drugs

Program to crush the opioid crisis

For Clay Today
Posted 10/14/20

ORANGE PARK – The Orange Park Medical Center will be partnering with local law enforcement agencies to host a Crush the Opioid Crisis Drug Take Back Day, sponsored by The U.S. Drug Enforcement …

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Orange Park Medical Center to take back unused drugs

Program to crush the opioid crisis


Posted

ORANGE PARK – The Orange Park Medical Center will be partnering with local law enforcement agencies to host a Crush the Opioid Crisis Drug Take Back Day, sponsored by The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Saturday, Oct. 24. The drop off will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

OPMC at 2001 Kingsley Ave. will be accepting unused drugs at the Emergency Room entrance. The program also includes the Normandy Park ER at 2775 Normandy Blvd. in Jacksonville.

The goal is to educate the community on the risk of opioid misuse while providing a safe and anonymous way to dispose of left-over medications. Since the pandemic began, 40 states have reported increases in opioid-related mortality, according to the American Medical Association. “We know that a significant number of opioid addictions and overdose deaths come from individuals accessing unused opioids prescriptions of family and friends,” said Dr. Steven Goodfriend, Emergency Room Physician and Medical Director at Orange Park Medical Center.

Keeping the unused pain medicine from past surgeries or procedures around the house is not safe. That’s why Orange Park Medical Center is partnering with local law enforcement agencies in Clay and Duval County who will be onsite at each take back location to safely collect unused and expired prescription medications. All medication collections will be made anonymously.

More than half of people who misuse opioid medications say they obtained them from someone they know. In the past year, two-thirds of teens who misused pain relievers reported that they got them from family, friends and the home medicine cabinet. And every minute of every day, a poison control center answers a call about a young child who has accidentally ingested medication.

“The safest and most responsible option to dispose of medication is to take unwanted medications to a drug take back site or event,” said Dr. Goodfriend. “Unused opioids thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused or sold illegally and flushing medications down the toilet pose a potential health and environmental hazard.”

All Drug Take Back locations will be drive-thru style. Participants are asked to remain in their vehicles and wear a face-covering during their drop off.

The participating locations will be collecting tablets, capsules and patches of Hydrocodone (Norco, Lortab, Vicodin), Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet), Tramadol (Ultram), Codeine, Fentanyl (Duragesic), Morphine, Hydromorphone (Dilaudid) and Oxymorphone (Opana). The drop off doesn’t include needles, syringes, lancets or liquids.

“Orange Park Medical Center is committed to bringing frontline solutions to curb the tide of opioid misuse and addiction in the communities that we serve,” adds Dr. Goodfriend. “COVID-19 has exacerbated the opioid epidemic, and the effort to crush the crisis is now more important than ever.”